BMW Sauber gets closer to the fans

Formula One at your fingertips: the BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park
The pit lane and team garages at a grand prix represent
the inner sanctum of Formula One, which explains why they are kept off
limits to the public. And why it is the dream of...

Formula One at your fingertips: the BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit Lane Park

The pit lane and team garages at a grand prix represent
the inner sanctum of Formula One, which explains why they are kept off
limits to the public. And why it is the dream of every F1 fan to one day
cast an eye over the sacred ground, ask questions, even get involved in
tyre changes and developing race strategies. The BMW Sauber F1 Team Pit
Lane Park helps to make the dream come true.

This unique theme park will
celebrate its premiere at the European Grand Prix on the Nürburgring (5th
to 7th May 2006). Doors will open for the first time on the evening of
Thursday 4th May, with BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen and BMW
Sauber F1 Team drivers on hand to get things underway.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Director BMW Central Marketing and Brand Management, said:
"The Pit Lane Park brings Formula One up close and personal. For BMW
it is important to offer as many people as possible a live experience
with the BMW brand. Here, the fans can sample all those aspects of F1
that they normally only see and hear from a distance  in real time
and at touching distance."

"This is a truly unique project aimed at giving
back something to all those people whose interest underpins our sport.
Im delighted that we can unveil the Pit Lane Park for the first
time at the Nürburgring, just a stones throw away from BMW
Erlebniswelt.

And Mario Theissen added: This theme park
allows us to bring the fans right up close to the sport. Thats why
weve paid a great deal of attention to authenticity and
interaction. You could call it a high-tech adventure park. The fans have
told us that they want to get closer to the action, find out more
information and experience the sport for themselves."

"What theyre
after is an experience to tell their friends and family about, to take
home a souvenir or a photo which they can show everybody. And weve
come up with some totally new ideas to give the fans what they want. We
are very much looking forward to the premiere of the BMW Sauber F1 Team
Pit Lane Park.

Spanning around 5,000 square meters, the park is
located in zone A7 at the Nürburgring. Admission is free and the park is
open to anybody with either a valid ticket for that particular day at the
Nürburgring or a BMW vehicle registration document together with the car
keys. The theme park can accommodate a maximum of 16,000 visitors per day
and is open from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. from Friday to Sunday.

The Pit Lane Park measures 120 x 45 metres. A 90-metre-long stretch of track
leads into a turning area, which is lined by grandstands. A BMW Sauber F1
Team Formula One race car and the smaller Formula BMW cars will take it
in turns to power down the track. The doors of the garages along the
edge of the pit lane are kept open, inviting visitors to come in and look
around a reconstruction of the real thing.

Inside are a
selection of cars, some race-ready, others stripped down into individual
parts. Here, the fans can compare the weight of a Formula One part with
its series production equivalent, or slip into some race overalls and
have photos taken in the cockpit. An interactive quiz both tests and
improves the visitors Formula One knowledge, while the Pit Stop
Challenge is all about showing off your practical skills. In the driving
simulator, meanwhile, its you against the clock.

Elsewhere, BMW
Sauber F1 Team drivers Nick Heidfeld, Jacques Villeneuve and Robert
Kubica will be popping by at Speakers Corner to answer fans
questions in person. And in the last garage is the Fan Shop, packed with
the teams merchandise collection. After the European Grand Prix at
the Nürburgring, the wide-reaching installation will be packed away and
reassembled at another five grands prix in 2006: Barcelona, Silverstone,
Montréal, Monza and Shanghai.